Major strides have been made in reducing the need for oil and natural gas to satisfy the world's energy requirements. For example, solar energy plays a small but increasingly important role in supplying power for the operation of electrical devices.
In addition to utilizing alternative sources of energy, the dependency on oil and natural gas can be lessened by reducing waste. A waste reduction may be in the form of increasing the efficiency of a device or in the form of utilizing by-products of the device. A water heater of a major hotel is one example of a device which produces by-products that can be utilized. Heating the water to a desired temperature creates pressurized steam. The pressurized steam can be employed to drive a motor for the generation of electrical energy. U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,191 to Schadeck teaches a vapor-driven rotary engine that can be driven by steam from a hotel boiler and coupled to a generator for conversion to electrical energy, whereafter hotel lights can be operated.
While vapor-driven rotary engines may be used in a capacity to conserve energy, any inefficiencies of the engine will limit the degree of conservation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary engine that promotes both energy efficiency and fuel conservation.